The Gambit in New Orleans Series
by Cajun Quinn
Summary: Five stories that take place after Gambit leaves Antarctica. He goes to stay with his family in New Orleans for awhile instead of doing what he really did in the comics. :)
1. The Dream

The Dream   
by Quinn Logan

(Disclaimer: Gambit belongs to Marvel, so do Mr. Sinister, the Marauders, the Morlocks, the other the X-Men, Tante Mattie and Jean-Luc LeBeau. I just borrowed them. Please don't sue. Thanks.)p> 

The little boy ran through the streets and alleys of New Orleans as if the Devil was after him, and maybe a kind of devil was. He wasn't sure how he had managed to keep ahead of the older boys who were chasing him, but he had. Just goes to show how fast a small pair of legs can run when propelled by fear and adrenaline.p>   
Hiding in a dark alley, the boy paused, heart pounding, trying desperately to catch his breath. It wasn't really working, but he kept trying anyway.p>   
Once he collected his breath satisfactorly, he pulled his prize out of the pocket of his faded jacket. This was why the teenagers were after him: he had picked the pocket of the group leader (quite a daring move for a small boy...he was rather proud of himself for it) and stolen this gold watch, which was obviously an antique. The boy figured the teen's grandfather had probably given it to him or something.p>   
The boy was so intent on looking at the watch, wondering how much money he'd get for it at the pawn shop, that he didn't notice the teenagers standing in the entrance of the alley, until the leader said "There he is! And he's got my watch! Now, he's gonna pay for taking it, the little mutie brat!"p>   
Glancing frantically around and realizing he had no way to escape, the boy backed up against the end wall of the alley, trembling, his red and black eyes wide with fear. He bit his lower lip nervously as the older boys approached him. He was outsized and outnumbered...and very, very scared...p>   
hr>   
"Now, Remy, all I need you to do for me is assemble the Marauders and bring them to those tunnels in the city. Wait for me there with them. I'll take care of the rest." Mr. Sinister said in the most innocent voice he could muster. "Can you do that for me?"p>   
"Sure, no problem." the nineteen year old rpelied, glad of something to do other than rob people and be bored. He'd come a long way since his childhood on the streets. Not much scared him anymore, not even the evil-looking Sinister.p>   
So, he assembled the Marauders for his new friend with a light-heart, completely unaware of the tragedy that would occur because of his actions.p>   
The group waited outside the tunnels as instructed. When Sinister arrived, he told Remy his job was done, that he could go. Remy agreed, but stuck around, curious enough to want to see what Sinister was going to do with all those Marauders.p>   
He waited until he knew Sinister wouldn't notice him, and slipped into the tunnels quickly and quietly, like the thief he was. Once inside, his eyes widened in mortification at the horrific sight before him.p>   
The Marauders were mercilessly murdering a large group of innocent Morlocks (the hideously deformed mutants who made the tunnels their home). So that was Sinisters plan all along. Remy felt sick to his stomach as he realized his part in this massacre.p>   
The realization hit Remy like a ton of bricks and he knew that while he couldn't stop it, he had to do something, even a small something, to help the Morlocks. He saw a young Morlock girl huddling in the shadows, obviously hoping to be overlooked. Remy picked her up and raced out of the tunnels, leaving her with the few of her kind who had managed to escape on their own.p>   
He then got away from there as fast as his legs could carry him, a sickening feeling of self-hatred rising inside him. He would never have killed anyone unless it was absolutely necessary, and even then, he'd only do it under major protest. And he certainly would never have helped Sinister if he had known what was going to happen.p>   
Feeling lower than the ground he was walking on, tears flowing from his red and black eyes, Remy headed out of the city...p>   
hr>   
What he couldn't get over was the extreme whiteness of where he was. Well, that and just how cold it was, but mostly the whiteness. For as far as he could see, it was white. Gambit honestly had a hard time telling where the ground left off and the sky began. It was all the same to him, especially in the wind.p>   
It was so cold, so very bitterly cold. For Gambit, born-and-raised-in-New-Orleans, the cold was amazingly unbearable, especially given the fact that he really wasn't dressed to be there.p>   
He pulled his trenchcoat closer around him and promptly stumbled, falling to his knees, thinking ironically that he should have went with Wolverine when the Canucklehead had gone on those vacations back to Canada in the wintertime rather than staying inside at the mansion as far away from the snowy outside world as was possible for him to get in New York state.p>   
Shivering, he sat there for a few minutes, his strength failing him yet again. He had been there, in Antarctica, for days. He wasn't sure how many days it was, but it had been quite a few. To Gambit, it seemed like an eternity. He was hungry and weak, his body like a skeleton, with the clothes just hanging off it.p>   
'I already was thin b'fore, but dis is pushin' it.' he thought miserably, wishing he was anywhere else. Jail would even have been better than this.p>   
He tried to get up and keep going, but stumbled again. He just didn't have the energy anymore. He silently began to cry, and experienced the weird sensation of the tears freezing on his cold cheeks.p>   
"Rogue..." he whispered, unable to speak any louder. Days before, he had screamed her name for hours, begging his sweetheart to come back, to not leave him there. She didn't listen, though, even when she was still in sight and could probably hear him. Once she left, she wasn't going to come back.p>   
This--being abandoned in Antarctica by the woman he loved--was his punishment for his role in the Morlock massacre. Rogue and the rest of the X-Men had found out about it after all this time. Rogue couldn't deal with it, couldn't forgive him (even though he had pleaded endlessly at his trial that he really hadn't known any better) so she left him there to die. None of the other X-Men had tried to stop her either, not even Stormy, who was his closest and dearest friend.p>   
"Mon Dieu..." Gambit whispered, his voice inaudible over the cold artic winds blustering around his freezing body. "I'm sorry...so sorry...been sorry ever since it happened. Isn't dat enough?"p>   
He fell back in the snow, laying down because he was so tired and going on just didn't seem to be an option at the moment. "I don't deserve dis, do I?" he asked the snow, despair filling his entire body with dread and self-loathing. "Do I really deserve to die...?"p>   
His eyes closed.p>   
hr>   
"Remy! Remy, child, wake up!" the voice said over and over, while a hand shook him gently.p>   
Remy jolted awake, shaking, eyes wide with fear, unfocused. The sheets were in a tangle around his thin skeleton of a body. Breathing heavily, closing his eyes again, he tried to calm down, realizing tears were streaming uncontrollably down his sunken cheeks.p>   
He opened his eyes again and miraculously, they focused. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he realized where he was. No longer on the Antarctic tundra, he was in his room at his home in New Orleans. The person shaking him was his father, Jean-Luc, who was sitting on the bed beside him. The voice belonged to that wonderful creature of a Tante Mattie, who was seated on the other side of him.p>   
Both older people were experienced with this kind of thing--Remy had often had nightmares regularly when he first came into their lives at the age of ten all those years ago.p>   
Tante Mattie drew the young man into her warm, safe embrace, while Jean-Luc rubbed his sons trembling back, silently cursing the X-Men for leaving his precious son to die in a frozen wasteland.p>   
"Remy, it's okay, you're safe. You jus' had a nightmare, dat's all." Jean-Luc said softly, as he and Mattie did their best to comfort him.p>   
And Remy relaxed, leaning on Tante Mattie, closing his red and black eyes tightly in an attempt to stop the tears. He realized for the first time since waking that, while each part of the dream had really happened to him at various points in his life, the time in Antarctica only a very short time ago, this time, it was only a dream.p> 

THE END 


	2. Only Emil Knows Why

ONLY EMIL KNOWS WHY

Watch out "Dear Abby", here comes Emil Lapin!

(Author's Note: Remy, Jean-Luc, Tante Mattie and Emil all belong to Marvel. "Only God Knows Why" belongs to Kid Rock and/or whoever wrote it. The point is, none of it belongs to me except the story idea, so please don't sue. Merci beaucoup! Oh and PS: The story itself doesn't deserve to be rated R but because of the one really bad word and one semi-bad word in the song, I felt it necessary….) 

"I've been sittin' here

Tryin' to find myself

I get behind myself

I need to rewind myself

Lookin for the payback

Listen for the playback

They say that every man bleeds just like me

And now I feel like number one

Yet I'm last in line

I watch my younger son

And it helps to pass the time

I take too many pills it helps to ease the pain

I made a couple of dollar bills still I feel the same

Everybody knows my name

They A lot of folks fuck me

It's hard to hang out in crowds

I guess that's the price you pay

To be some big shot like I am

Outskirt stands and one night stands

Still I can't find love

And when your walls come tumbling down

I will always be around

And when your walls come tumbling down

I will always be around

People don't know about the things I say and do

They don't understand about the shit that I've been through

It's been so long since I've been home

I've been gone.... I've been gone for way too long

Maybe I forgot all things I miss

Oh somehow I know there's more to life than this

I said it too many times

And I still stand firm

You get what you put in

And people get what they deserve

Still I ain't seen mine

No I ain't seen mine

I've been giving just ain't been gettin'

I've been walking down that line

So I think I'll keep on walking

With my head held high

I'll keep moving on and only God knows why

Only God.....only God

Only God knows why

Only God....knows....why why why only God knows why

Take me to the rivers...edge

Take me to the river...hey hey hey…"

Jean-Luc LeBeau had been going to knock on his son's bedroom door but when he heard the song coming from inside the room, he paused, hand poised in mid-air. He stood there in the semi-dark hallway of the second floor of his New Orleans mansion and listened to the entire song. Putting his hand down…his question forgotten…he let out a sigh and headed back downstairs, unaware that Remy was lying on his bed in the room, listening to the song over and over again, crying his red and black eyes out.

In the living room downstairs were two of Jean-Luc's, and Remy's closest friends. Tante Mattie's eyebrows knitted together when she saw the look on Jean-Luc's face, but she remained silent for the time being.

"Did you ask him?" Emil Lapin asked as Jean-Luc sat down. Emil was a member of the Thieves Guild that Jean-Luc led. He was also a computer expert, and was usually the one to help the Guild members get past the security systems in the places they robbed. Emil was the jokester of the Thieves Guild, the one who usually tried to make people see the lighter side of things. He had been like a second brother to Remy for years and the two young men had a special rapport. There weren't many people Remy would open up for. The three people in the living room of the LeBeau mansion that evening were among that small group.

Jean-Luc looked at the red-haired thief. "Huh? Oh, um, no. I didn't even talk to him. He was listening to some song…" his voice trailed off as he frowned.

"What song was it?" Tante Mattie asked. "Should we be worried, Jean-Luc?"

"It didn' sound like a nice happy song if dat's what you're asking, Mattie." Jean-Luc replied with another sigh. He was worried about Remy, had been for a few weeks now, ever since the boy showed up at the door fresh from his involuntary stay in Antarctica. "I don' t'ink de boy's doin' okay, but he won' say anyt'ing to me 'bout it."

"Perhaps I should go have a talk wit' him." Tante Mattie commented, rising from the rocking chair where she was sitting. Emil put up a hand and shook his head.

"Tante Mattie, non. I t'ink if Remy hasn' talked to Jean-Luc 'bout it yet, I don' t'ink he's gon' want to talk to you either. Let me try."

Both Jean-Luc and Mattie looked at the younger man, confused expressions on their faces. 

"You? Do you t'ink you can get through to him?" Jean-Luc asked, a hopeful gleam coming into his eyes.

"Look." Emil explained, facing his two friends. "I t'ink de person he would talk 'bout dis to is Henri. An' since Henri's dead, you're lookin' at de closest t'ing Remy has to a brother at dis point. Yeah, I t'ink I can get through to him. An' if I can' do it, den I'll leave it up to de two of you. Jus' let me at least try first."

Emil turned and left the living room, walking slowly up the large staircase. He was totally unsure of how to approach his friend, and hoped his efforts wouldn't be in vein. He paused outside the door of Remy's room just as Jean-Luc had a few minutes before, and he, too, listened to the song being played on the stereo inside. 

Realizing what song it was, a small smile quirked at the corners of his mouth and he raised an eyebrow. "Kid Rock. Huh. Interesting choice, Rem…" he commented softly as he lifted his hand to knock on the door.

The music was abruptly shut off. There was the sound of shuffling inside the room. Emil waited patiently until the door opened and Remy stood before him, wearing sunglasses. Emil looked at him squarely while his other eyebrow joined its partner halfway up his forehead. "Can I come in?" was all he asked. Remy nodded.

Remy sat back down on his bed as Emil shut the door behind himself and took a seat on the chair by the desk. He straddled it so he could lean on the back of it and face Remy at the same time. He was dying to ask Remy why he was wearing sunglasses inside on a cloudy day but decided to take the not-so-blunt approach to start with.

"Didn' know you listened to Kid Rock," he commented lightly. 

"De song kinda fits my mood, dat's all." Remy replied just as lightly. He had a feeling he knew what Emil was there to talk to him about and he made up his mind that he wasn't going to make it easy for his friend. Much as he loved Emil like a brother, Remy wasn't sure he was ready to talk about it even to Emil just yet. 

"Kind of a depressin' song, ain't it?" Emil asked, silently praying that he wouldn't say something stupid like he normally had a tendency to do.

Remy glanced sharply in Emil's direction. "Like I said, it kinda fits my mood." He said vaguely, wishing Emil wouldn't push it. No such good luck though. Emil kept right on going.

"Dat why you're wearin' de glasses, mon ami?" he asked softly. "B'cause you ain' feelin' de best?"

"Why do you care?" Remy demanded angrily, his voice shaking from the tears that were about to spill over. Emil noticed the emotion…the sunglasses had fallen off in Remy's outburst and were lying discarded on the floor.

Emil closed his eyes and lowered his head, feeling miserable. He hadn't meant to make Remy react like that. He also felt an almost unbearable heartache…he wished Henri was there to help him help Remy. Fighting back his own pain, he sighed and lifted his head, opening his eyes in the process. He looked Remy right in the eyes and said,

"I know I'm not Henri. Never once wished I was, until now. An' I care, b'cause I care 'bout you, de same way I cared 'bout him." Emil took a deep breath, realizing just how close he was to crying. "You an' Henri were de closest t'ings I had to havin' brothers, Remy. An' Henri's death hit me jus' as hard as it hit you. We both got through it, an' I know we can get through dis. I'm not here to judge you or tell you how to live your life or anyt'ing like dat…." His voice trailed off.

Remy looked away, the tears spilling from his eyes and running in silent rivers down his cheeks. He studied the pattern on the quilt at the end of his bed. "But…?"

"But I'd like to t'ink dat if dere's somet'ing botherin' ya, you'd tell me, de way I know you'd tell Henri if he was here. I can be a pretty good listener, an' I won' tell anyone what you say if you don' want me to."

Biting his lip, Remy got up and stood at the window. "Dere are times when I wish I wasn't alive." He said softly, so softly that Emil almost didn't hear him. Almost, but not quite.

"Why's dat?" Emil asked, remaining seated. 

"B'cause I always screw everyt'ing up, it never fails." Remy replied, not turning around.

Emil raised his eyebrows even though Remy couldn't see him. "Everyt'ing?" he wanted to know.

Remy made a sound of forced laughter. "Well now, let's see, Emil. First I screwed up my own weddin' day by killin' Julian an'…"

"Oh jeez Rem, he started it!" Emil protested in the voice of a schoolboy. That got an actual, honest-to-goodness laugh out of Remy.

"I was wonderin' when de real you was gon' make an appearance." He joked before he continued. "Okay, so den I helped Sinister destroy de Morlocks, and den I didn' tell de X-Men 'bout it, so when dey finally found out, dey left me to die in Antarctica. I screw everyt'ing up."

Emil got up and joined his friend at the window, watching the rain as it ran down the glass. Putting a hand on Remy's shoulder and giving it a light squeeze, he said, "Remy. De Morlock t'ing was an accident. You didn' know what Sinister was gon' do, right?" Remy nodded. "So it's not your fault, stop beatin' yourself up 'bout it. As for not tellin' de X-Men, well, what business was it of dere's anyway? Dey had no right to punish you de way dey did, as Jean-Luc has said about fifty thousand times since you showed up at de door de other week…"

Remy laughed again. "He's really mad at dem, isn' he?"

"Uh, you could say dat…He's pretty protective of you, ya know. Even now…you ain't lived here full time in years but dat don' change him…he's worried."

Remy's shoulders sagged a bit. "I can' help dis Emil…"

Emil sighed and turned Remy around to look at him. "Sure you can, Rem. You can stop feelin' sorry for yourself an' go back to de X-Men like you know you should. An' maybe you could remind Jean-Luc dat you care 'bout him an' 'preciate all his worryin'."

"Okay. You're right, I know. It's jus'…Rogue…" Remy sighed.

Emil groaned and looked up at the ceiling. "Girl problems, I can' help you with, sorry, mon ami…You wanna come down to see Jean-Luc and Tante Mattie with me?"

"Nah…I'll see dem later." Remy replied as Emil headed to the door. Just as Emil was about to close the door behind him on his way out, Remy called to him. "Hey, Emil?"

Emil stuck his head back in the doorway. "Oui, Remy?" he asked with a gleam in his blue eyes.

Remy gave his old friend his most charming smile. "Thank you."

Emil returned the smile and his voice had a catch in it as he spoke. "Anytime you need me, Rem, you know where to find me."

Remy nodded as the door closed behind Emil. "Dear Abby, he ain't," he said with a laugh. "But I've known since de second I met him back when I was ten dat he was gon' to be a valuable friend. First impressions really aren' wrong…"


	3. A Christmas in Nawlins

A Christmas in Nawlins

(Note: Remy, Mercy LeBeau, Emil Lapin, Genard Alouette, Jean-Luc LeBeau, Tante Mattie, Claude Poitier, Theoren Marceaux and Zoe Ishihara all belong to Marvel, not me, so please don't sue. The only thing I own is the idea…)

***

"You guys, hurry up!" Mercy sounded out of patience, and in her eyes she had a very good reason. 'Men say women are slow? It's the men who are the slow ones!' she thought, and almost giggled. Giggling was not what would have gotten those three confoundedly slow men to work faster, she knew, so she held back her laughter and instead gave them the sternest look she could muster given the circumstances. "Jean-Luc is gon' be home soon an' you _know _Tante Mattie wants us to have dis done before he gets here!"

The three men stopped what they were doing and looked at her from their various positions on the roof of the LeBeau mansion. Just to make Mercy even more annoyed than she already was, Emil grinned and dropped the string of colored lights he was holding. The lights landed right at Mercy's feet. Remy and Genard started chuckling, and Mercy glared up at them in total exasperation. 

'Hey Merce, if you want dis done so fast, why don' you get up here an' do it yourself?" Genard laughed. Mercy scowled.

"Jus' do it, would you?" she asked, climbing the ladder with the lights and handing them back to Emil, who gave her the most innocent look he was capable of making. Sighing, Mercy climbed back down the ladder and resumed her supervising as Tante Mattie came outside to see how things were progressing.

"How are dey doin'?" Tante Mattie asked. Mercy blew air out through her teeth and groaned. 

"Dey'd be doin' better if dey had all day to do it." She replied. "I swear, Tante Mattie,

dey're de slowest creatures on de planet!"

"Hey! We heard dat!" the three men exclaimed from the roof. Both women laughed.

"Now you boys know I want to have dis house decorated b'fore Jean-Luc gets back." Tante Mattie reminded them. "An' Mercy an' I ain' gon' do it ourselves, so it's up to you three to do it for us. Could you go a little faster?"

"We're goin' as fast as we can, Tante." Remy replied, giving her his most charming smile. She nodded and turned back to Mercy.

"I'm goin' to de store, I need to pick up some t'ings for de fruitcake I'm makin'. Is dere anyt'ing you want?" 

"Non…" Mercy replied absently. Tante Mattie sighed quietly. She knew the holidays had been hard on the Guild members for the past few years, since Henri died. The hardest hit were Jean-Luc, Remy and Mercy, who were Henri's family, and, although he wouldn't openly admit it, Emil, who was Henri's best friend.

"Alright. Well, remember Jean-Luc's due back in an hour, so make sure dey get dose lights finished b'fore den, okay?" Tante Mattie replied, giving Mercy a brief hug.

Forty-five minutes later, Remy, Emil and Genard climbed down the ladder and stood by Mercy. The four thieves looked at the house and surveyed their handiwork. It was just getting dark, so they had put the lights on, and the mansion was now lit with twinkling lights. As Jean-Luc's car pulled up the drive, Mercy turned and smiled at her brother-in-law and their friends.

"It looks wonderful guys. You did a great job." She complimented them.

"Dat you did." Jean-Luc agreed, standing by his car with the door open, smiling at the scene before him. "Only t'ing we need now is snow, but I don' t'ink we're gon' be getting' _dat _anytime soon."

"Papa, can we go get de tree tonight?" Remy asked his father. Jean-Luc raised an eyebrow. It was the first time since coming back to New Orleans that Remy had seemed interested in doing anything except staying home and listening to music. While he still wasn't sure of all the details surrounding Remy's stay in Antarctica or the trial he had undergone, he knew the events had hurt Remy deeply. He decided to encourage any progress Remy made, even if it meant he had to take the guild on their annual quest for the perfect Christmas tree.

"Do you want to, mon fils?" he asked with a smile. Remy nodded. "Den oui, we'll get de tree tonight. If we can all agree on one, dat is…"

"Hey we're not dat hard to please are we, Jean-Luc?" Emil asked with a laugh. 

Jean-Luc shook his head and groaned. "Goin' tree hunting is de one t'ing I hate about de holidays. Half of you want to find de perfect tree an' won' stop until you do, de other half don' b'lieve dere's such a t'ing as a perfect tree. De arguments are startin' to be hard on de head, seein' as how I ain' as young as I used to be…"

The younger guild members laughed, and Genard promised that they'd try to keep the arguing down to a dull roar this year.

***

"Don' you want to go to New York an' spend Christmas with de X-Men?" Mercy asked Remy the next morning over breakfast. Jean-Luc had yet to come downstairs, so Mercy felt it was okay to ask what she knew would be a touchy question. With only eight days to go before Christmas, she thought maybe Remy would be thinking of the snowball fights he was missing.

Remy looked at his sister-in-law over his scrambled eggs with a solemn expression. "Non…dey don' want me dere. At least you guys are makin' me feel at home here."

Mercy tilted her head. "Remy, dis is your home, no matter what happened b'fore, an' no matter what Theoren and Claude say. Dey don' know anyt'ing. Of course we're makin' you feel at home. You_ are _home."

Remy frowned. "Merce, can I ask you somet'ing?"

"Of course you can. What's on your mind?" she replied, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Do you b'lieve in angels an' life after death an' all dat stuff Tante Mattie keeps talkin' 'bout?"

"Oui…dere has to be somet'ing…Remy…dis is about Henri, isn' it?" Mercy asked in reply. Remy nodded and looked away from her, blinking furiously to try and keep back the tears that were threatening to spill over. Mercy noticed his reaction and reached across the table, taking his hand in hers. "You really miss him, don' you?"

"Uh-huh…" Remy agreed quietly. The tears flowed down his cheeks, but he still couldn't face Mercy. He and Henri had been very close in spite of the differences in their ages, and he had often felt it was his fault that the Assassins killed Henri. 

"I do too…we all do. It's hard, I know. But all we can do is take it one day at a time. Tante Mattie told me dat." Mercy sighed and decided to ask Remy something really personal. "Remy, what's your favorite memory of Henri?"

A faraway, dreamy look came over Remy's face. "It was so long ago…just after I met him and Papa, when I was ten, he taught me how to make shadow puppets. No one had ever taken any time to just play with me before. Henri always took the time to do t'ings with me. Dat's my favorite memory."

Mercy smiled at him. "That's so sweet! You know somet'ing?"

"What?" Remy took a breath and looked at his sister-in-law in spite of the tears still trickling down his cheeks.

"I b'lieve he's watching over us from wherever he is. Keeping an eye on us, and makin' sure we're all okay. Like a guardian angel of sorts."

Remy laughed through his tears. "Somehow I can' picture Henri bein' anyone's angel!" he exclaimed. "None of us are exactly saintly, if you know what I mean…"

"True, but it's a nice thought, isn' it?" 

"Oui. I'll have to remember dat sometimes when I'm feelin' upset 'bout somet'ing." Remy replied, his face growing serious yet again. "Mercy, de others don' t'ink it's my fault he's dead do dey?"

Mercy's blue eyes widened, and she shook her long blonde hair vigorously. "No! Remy, why would any of us t'ink dat?"

Remy sighed, looking away from her again. "If he hadn' come up to New York to get me for de tithing, de Assassins wouldn' have followed him an' killed him. I keep t'inkin it's my fault."

"Non, Remy, it's not your fault. I have a feeling, an' Jean-Luc agrees, dat dey would have killed him no matter where he was. It was planned. His trip to get you jus' gave dem an opportunity. You didn' know he was comin' to see you, so it's not your fault."

"Okay." Remy said. "I jus' wanted to know. Claude and Theoren have been giving me some weird impressions since den, I didn' know what to make of it…"

Mercy rolled her eyes. "Has it ever occurred to you in all de years you've known dem dat Claude and Theoren are a couple of weasels trapped in a hen house? Dey're weird. Don' pay any attention to dem. Lord knows dey don' deserve de attention dey get as it is."

"Dey're important in de Guild." Remy pointed out with a chuckle.

"True. But bein' important don't make dem good people, or even smart people." Mercy reminded him, returning the chuckle as Jean-Luc walked into the room.

***

After supper on Christmas Eve, Jean-Luc turned the lights on the huge almost-perfect tree, and, like the animals on Noah's Ark, the members of the Thieves Guild arrived in pairs. Jean-Luc, Remy and Mercy were already there, because they lived at the house. Claude and Theoren arrived together, as did Emil and Genard. Tante Mattie was almost late, but her excuse was she was waiting for Zoe to pick an outfit. 

"As if it really matters what de girl wears…" was Tante Mattie's exasperated remark as she took her seat in the rocking chair.

Zoe shot Tante Mattie a dirty look. Or, as dirty a look as a girl raised in Japan could shoot. "Of course it matters, Tante! I'm going outside my apartment, therefore it matters what I look like."

"You always wear the same kinds of outfits, Zoe. What's de point of wasting time tryin' to pick one?" Theoren commented. He found himself on the receiving end of the same look Tante Mattie got a few seconds before.

"I do not expect _you_ of all people to understand, Theoren." Zoe replied bitingly. She wasn't the fondest of Theoren and didn't mind anyone else knowing it. She thought he and Claude were too stuffy. "Don't waste any brainpower trying to, okay? You might kill some valuable cells."

"Ouch…" Emil snickered.

Theoren glared at Emil. "Don' you start with me, Red…" he warned. Emil raised his hands and eyebrows in an innocent, confused expression.

"What…? What did I say now?" he asked. Genard shook his head.

"If you value your life, Emil…" he grinned.

"AHEM!" Jean-Luc said in a loud voice. The guild members looked at him, all except for Remy, who was trying not to let on to Theoren that he was laughing hysterically at him, and Emil, who was still trying to figure out why Theoren was mad at him.

"Have we forgotten what day dis is?" Jean-Luc continued. "It's Christmas, people. Let's try not to argue for the next twenty-four hours, okay?"

"Dey keep startin' it," Claude grumbled.

"Oh, now _that's_real mature, Claude." Zoe remarked with a snicker. Claude glared at her.

Jean-Luc put his head in his hands with a sigh. It seemed he wasn't going to get what he wanted, for now at least. Maybe by the New Year, they'd start to behave themselves. 

Then again, he remembered that he'd hoped that last Christmas too, and he didn't get his wish then either. With that thought, he sighed again and brought out the eggnog, deciding to leave things as they were. 'After all,' he thought to himself. 'Dey're my fam'ly an' I can't change 'em, nor would I even if I wanted to, which sometimes I do…'


	4. Someone's Watching

Someone's Watching

NOTE: Like always I don't own 'em, I'm just borrowing 'em. I'm not sure if this story is as good as the first three, but it's what came out of my head so here we go! Part five is coming sometime soon, I hope…

***

"I can' b'lieve another year's gone by," Jean-Luc commented to Tante Mattie as they put the groceries away in the kitchen of the LeBeau mansion. It was December 30, and they had just gotten back from the store, where they had been getting party things, like pop, chips and bags of ice, for the huge end-of-the-year bash they were having the next night. The Thieves Guild always made a big deal out of celebrating the New Year even though nothing ever really changed for them. And any resolutions any of them made never stuck more than a few days. But they still made them.

"De time seems to be goin' by so fast now," Mattie replied. "I get a kick out of de young ones, dey complain dat de time is flyin' by for dem. Feel like tellin' dem to wait until dey're us, den see how fast it goes."

Jean-Luc laughed. "Dere time will come, Mattie," he said. "In de meantime we can have our fun watching dem."

"True enough." Mattie replied, putting the bags of ice in the freezer. "Do you t'ink we got enough food for de party?"

"If Remy, Emil and Genard don' get to it first, yes. If dey do, we're screwed."

At that moment, they heard the front door of the mansion slam shut. The sound of three laughing voices filled the air. The boys were back. Suddenly, Remy's voice called to them.

"Papa? Tante? You back yet? We're starved!"

As they listened to the sound of the three young men make their way to the kitchen, still laughing and joking around, Jean-Luc and Mattie looked at each other, looks of defeat on their faces.

"We're screwed." They said in unison as the kitchen door opened.

***

Early the next evening, there was apparent peace at the LeBeau mansion. The only people in the house were Jean-Luc, Tante Mattie, Remy and Mercy, all of whom were getting ready for the party. Suddenly, the peace on the second floor was disturbed in a most loud manner.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Remy stopped combing his hair and scratched his head. Raising an eyebrow he decided to investigate. He left his room and went down the hallway. He poked his head around the doorway of Mercy's room timidly.

"Merce?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

Mercy looked at him. It was very obvious she was pissed off about something. Remy got the impression he shouldn't have bothered her, but it was too late now. Mercy answered his question, biting off each word at a time, sounding angrier with every word. "I. Just. Broke. My. BRUSH!"

Remy looked at the comb he was still holding in his hand. He hadn't realized he'd brought it with him when he left his room, but maybe it was a good thing. He held it out to his sister-in-law and said, 

"Um, would dis help?"

"Don' you need it?" Mercy asked, her voice softening. 

"Nah, I have another one somewhere. You can use dis one." Remy told her.

Mercy took the comb from him with a smile. She was no longer angry, although she'd have to get a new brush as soon as the stores were open again. "Merci, Remy. I appreciate it. An' I'm sorry for snapping."

"Don' mention it, Merce." He replied. Walking back down the hallway to his own room in search of his spare comb, Remy thought to himself,

'Whew! Crisis averted!'

***

"You know, it's pretty funny that we have this party every year and there's not even ten of us." Zoe commented.

"Oui, but we always manage to have fun," Genard replied. "Isn' dat de point?"

"I suppose." Zoe told him, taking the glass of pop he handed her and giving him a bright smile.

"Someone always manages to get into a fight too, but dat only adds to de fun," Remy grinned, joining Genard at the table as Zoe left to talk to Mercy.

"My money's on Theoren startin' somet'ing with Zoe. Emil t'inks Zoe'll start it. We'll see who wins."

"Yeah, let me know, would ya?" Remy asked. "I'm goin' go see what's buggin' Tante. She's not enjoying herself, or it doesn' look like she is."

"Sure." Genard replied, waving Emil over. "An' yeah, if anyone can cheer her up, it's you. Good luck."

***

Tante Mattie was sitting in the rocking chair with a glass of what appeared to be eggnog. She saw Remy coming over and almost wished he wouldn't. It wasn't that she really didn't want to talk to him, she just wanted to be left alone for the moment. 

"Tante, what's de matter?" Remy asked, kneeling down beside the rocker and looking at her, tilting his head like a confused puppy.

Mattie smiled at him and shook her head. "Dere's nothing really de matter, child." She told him, frowning slightly. "Don' worry 'bout it. I'm fine."

Remy raised an eyebrow, returning the frown. "You don' look fine."

Mattie ruffled Remy's hair with her free hand and tried to give him a convincing smile. "You wouldn' understand, Remy," she explained. "I mean it, don' worry 'bout me, go have fun with Genard an' Emil. Dat's what tonight's for anyway."

Remy sighed. "Okay…" he agreed reluctantly, getting up. He wondered what she was talking about, but did as she said rather than push it further. Tante was weird sometimes, and he had the impression she really didn't want to talk about it. He walked over to Genard and Emil, who were still hogging the table with the pop and chips on it.

"What's eatin' her?" Emil asked through a mouthful of ketchup chips.

Remy grinned at him and winked at Genard, something Emil didn't catch. "You know, dose chips match your hair, Emil," he snickered. "We're goin' to have to start callin' you Ketchup from now on."

"Ohhhhhh…why do I keep doin' dis to myself…?" Emil groaned, putting his head in his hand.

"Ooh! Ooh! Ha! Emil, pay up!" Genard exclaimed.

"Huh? What? Where?" Emil replied, looking around frantically, trying to see where the fight was happening. Seeing Theoren and Zoe in the middle of what was obviously a very heated argument, he sighed. "Theoren started it, didn' he?"

"Oui, dat he did." Remy replied. Genard nodded.

Emil pulled ten dollars out of his wallet and handed it to Genard. "Here. An' don' expect me to make dat kind of a bet wit' you again."

Genard laughed, putting the money in his pocket. "You said dat last time, Emil."

***

Across the room, Tante Mattie had gotten up and was standing by the fireplace that never got used. She still looked like she wasn't enjoying herself, but in a sense she was, in her own way, because she had realized they weren't alone in the LeBeau mansion. Mattie was a spiritual person, a mystical healer, and someone who, from time to time, could sense the presence of spirits. In other words, ghosts. This wasn't the first time she'd sensed this particular spirit in the LeBeau mansion, but so far no one else knew about it.

She looked at one of the pictures on the mantle of the fireplace and smiled. "You've never gone far from dese people, an' I can' say I blame you," she whispered to the picture. "Dey may not know it, but dey need someone watchin' dem, an' who better to do dat den you?"

"Mattie, what are you sayin'?" Jean-Luc asked, coming up behind her.

Mattie looked away from the picture and turned to her friend. "He's here, Jean-Luc. I know you can' feel it, but he's here. He's always here."

"You can sense him?" Jean-Luc asked, eyes widening. Mattie nodded. 

"His presence is always stronger when everyone's together here," she explained. "He's never left you. I don' t'ink he ever will."

"Like a guardian angel…do de other's know?"

"Non…I've never told anyone until now." Mattie replied. "It would only bring dem down…maybe I'll tell dem sometime, but not tonight."

"Can you tell if he's happy, if he's okay?" the father in Jean-Luc had to know that. He knew Mattie probably couldn't really communicate with spirits, but maybe she could sense feelings.

"He seems to be, again, especially when everyone's together." Mattie told him. "I t'ink he stays close to Remy an' Mercy mostly. An' you. As for de rest of us, I t'ink he realizes we don' need lookin' after quite so much."

"I wish I could talk to him…" Jean-Luc sighed. Mattie shook her head.

"Non, Jean-Luc. One can' actually communicate with guardian angels. Just know dat he is here." She looked at her watch. It was two minutes to midnight. "Now come. It's almost midnight an' it looks like we have to break up Theoren and Zoe or dey'll fight through the comin' of de New Year."

The fight was broken up, and the thieves counted down the last remaining seconds of the old year. Remy, Emil and Genard blew noisemakers when the New Year arrived and everyone cheered. Then, they all sat around with paper and pencils and started to talk over resolutions for the New Year. None of them, except for Jean-Luc and Tante Mattie, realized that they were being watched. 

Sure enough, standing behind the rocking chair Tante Mattie always claimed as her own when she was there, the invisible spirit of Henri LeBeau smiled with contentment as he watched his family and friends argue over their resolutions. He wasn't able to join them for real, much as he'd like to, but keeping an eye on them was good enough for him.

And they couldn't hear him, but as they talked over their resolutions, he said softly,

"Happy New Year, mon famille. I love you."


	5. A Difficult Decision

A Difficult Decision

(Note: Again, they aren't mine, they're Marvels. I'm just borrowing them. Again, I wish they were mine, but even Santa can't give them to me for Christmas. Happy Holidays everyone, I'm planning on this being the grand finale of the series. Maybe someday I'll do another series, but for now, it's back to working on the novel for me!)

***

The new year had been quiet for the New Orleans Thieves Guild. It was now early April and there had only been one run-in with the Assassins, and very few close calls with the police. Just the way the thieves wanted it. They were in a peaceful mood, and kept a very low profile. However, their world was about to be turned upside down in a very unexpected but predictable way.

Jean-Luc was sitting in the living room of the LeBeau mansion with Tante Mattie. They were drinking tea and enjoying each other's company, reminiscing about old times, when the doorbell rang. This surprised them as it was early evening, and neither Remy nor Mercy was at home, so whoever was calling was not there to see either of the young people. 

"I wonder who dat could be?" Jean-Luc commented, putting his cup of tea down on the table and standing. "We're not expecting company…I jus' hope it isn' Marius lookin' to start a fight over somet'ing…" He walked out into the front foyer of the mansion and looked out the window. 'Oh my…' he thought as he realized who was standing on the front porch. 'Remy wasn' expecting dis…'

On the porch, waiting for the door to be answered, were two people. One, a tall woman in an elegant yet simple green dress, had white hair and a manner that matched her dress in elegance. Beside her was a short, stocky man with wild black hair, wearing jeans, a checkered shirt and a worn brown leather jacket. Jean-Luc had never met either of the two X-Men, but from the stories he'd heard Remy tell in the months he'd been back in New Orleans, he recognized them as Storm and Wolverine. And somehow, Jean-Luc knew they weren't there for tea.

Jean-Luc heard a sigh behind him. "Dey're here to talk to Remy 'bout goin' back wit' dem to New York." Mattie commented quietly. "We both know that, Jean-Luc. We knew dis would happen sometime. Let 'em in. In de end it will be Remy's decision an' no one else's."

Jean-Luc returned the sigh and nodded. He knew his old friend was right, even though he hated it. "I jus' hope Remy does what his heart wants him to do…" he replied as he put his hand on the doorknob and opened the door, greeting the two X-Men with a forced but cheerful smile.

"May I help you?" he asked, pretending he didn't know who they were. Wolverine raised an eyebrow. He wasn't fooled for a second but Jean-Luc's smile. He also couldn't blame the elder LeBeau for feeling apprehensive. He'd feel the same way if he were in Jean-Luc's shoes.

"Hello." Storm replied in her charming voice. "My name is Ororo, and this is Logan. We are friends of Remy's from the X-Men. May we come in? We would like to talk to him if it is not too much trouble."

"I didn' t'ink Remy had any friends in de X-Men…" Tante Mattie commented quietly. Jean-Luc glared at her to be quiet. Wolverine just glared. But he didn't object to the comment because it was a valid one. Storm didn't hear it and so made no comment.

"Please come in. Remy isn' at home right now, but he should be here soon." Jean-Luc told them as they entered the living room. "Can I get you somet'ing?"

"No thanks." Wolverine replied. Storm nodded.

"We are not in need of refreshments, thank you." She continued.

Fifteen minutes later, the door opened and closed. "Papa? You here? We have to talk to you 'bout somet'ing." Remy's voice asked from the hallway. When he got to the living room, he froze in his tracks, staring at Storm and Wolverine in complete amazement. They were the last people he expected to see. Emil and Genard, who weren't paying attention to what Remy was doing, bumped into him from behind. When the three young men righted themselves, Genard and Emil joined Remy in staring at the X-Men. The silence was deafening.

Remy spoke first, addressing his friends. "Um…what're you guys doin' here?"

"Remy, we need to talk to you." Storm explained. "We've left this too long as it is."

"We'll leave you alone so you can talk," Jean-Luc said as he and Mattie left the room and headed to the kitchen. They expected Emil and Genard to follow them, but neither thief moved from their positions on either side, but slightly behind, Remy. Wolverine growled slightly, but Remy shot him a warning look before turning to his two friends.

"You need us to stick around, Rem?" Emil asked. The concern in his blue eyes was mirrored in Genard's brown ones. Remy gave them a confident smile.

"It's fine guys. I t'ink I can handle dis." He told them.

"Okay…" Genard said uncertainly. "We'll jus' go wait in your room…yell if you need us." With that, he and Emil went up the huge staircase and waited in Remy's room, listening to his CDs. They knew he wouldn't mind.

***

In the living room, Remy, Storm and Wolverine sat there, looking at each other. Wolverine broke the ice.

"How ya been, Cajun?" he asked in his usual gruff manner.

"Fine, Logan. It was tough at first…Antarctica isn' exactly de nicest place in de world to be left to die…" Remy commented wryly.

Storm sighed. "I'm sorry, Remy. Neither the Professor nor I knew what was going on. If we had, we certainly would have stopped the proceedings. You did not deserve to be treated in such a horrible manner."

"Would you?" Remy demanded. "No one else did. Not a single one of dem stopped Rogue from leavin' me dere."

"I went back for ya, kid, as soon as I found out what she did." Wolverine told him. "I couldn't find ya. Had to give up after awhile. The point is, someone did try to make it right."

"What's de point of dis conversation, if dere is one?" Remy asked.

"Gambit, we're here on behalf of Professor Xavier and the rest of the team to ask you to come back." Storm explained. "The truth is, we need you and…"

"…The team ain't the same without ya, gumbo." Wolverine finished for her.

Remy looked at them squarely. He knew they were telling the truth…neither one of them had ever lied to him before. It would take him a long time to forgive Rogue, but there was no reason for him to hold a grudge against the rest of the team if they wanted him back…he suddenly felt very weird and very confused.

"Um…you can stay here with us…I have some t'inkin' to do…you understand, right?" he said quietly.

"Of course we do, Remy." Storm replied with a kind smile. Wolverine nodded his agreement. Both of them knew it would take Remy some time to figure out what he wanted to do next.

***

Jean-Luc showed Wolverine and Storm to the guestrooms, while Emil and Genard joined Remy and Tante Mattie in the living room. 

'Dey want him to go back…' Mattie thought, casting a glance at Genard and Emil, who were oddly solemn. It wasn't like them. She realized they must know it too and sighed. Remy had quite the decision in front of him.

Jean-Luc came back down after making sure Storm and Wolverine were settled in their rooms. He was worried beyond all measure, but was determined not to show it. He had been so happy these past few months, since Remy had finally came home, and the thought of losing his son again scared him.

"Are you okay, Rem?" Emil asked, breaking the silence. 

"I'd be okay if I knew what to do now…" Remy replied with a sigh. He stood up. "I gotta go t'ink…dis isn' somet'ing I can discuss with you, I'm sorry."

"When you can, we'll be right here." Jean-Luc said in as comforting a voice as he could muster. 

Remy went outside and climbed the tree in the backyard. He used to climb the tree all the time, when he was younger. It was his thinking tree. And he definitely needed to think now.

"What do I do now…?" he asked himself aloud. "On de one hand, I'm back home for de first time in years, an' it's been good. On de other hand, I miss bein' with de X-Men." He sighed and put his head in his hands, careful not to lose his balance on the branch he was sitting on.

"I'm so confused!" he exclaimed to the leaves. "I guess de only t'ing I can do is figure out where I'm de happiest…"

***

The next morning, Remy, who had sat in the tree all night alternately thinking and sleeping, walked back into the mansion. He found his father, Tante Mattie, Emil, Genard, Storm and Wolverine sitting in the living room. Breakfast for them was obviously over, but Remy didn't think much about that. He wasn't all that hungry. He had come to a decision after much debating and was nervous about sharing it with the group. 

"Good morning, Remy." Mattie said with a warm smile. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Non, Tante, thanks anyway. I'm not hungry." He replied, standing before them all. "Um, I have a few t'ings to tell you. It's not goin' be easy, but it has to be said."

"Go ahead, Remy. We're listening." Storm encouraged him.

Remy sighed. "Okay. I did a lot of t'inkin' last night. I realized I had to weigh de pros an' cons of stayin' here against de pros an' cons of goin' back to de X-Men. For awhile, I didn' t'ink I'd ever come to a conclusion, but I did, 'bout de same time de sun came up." 

His six listeners sat in silence, waiting for him to continue. They knew this was hard for him, and they wanted to make it as painless as possible. Judging from the look on his face, they also knew it wasn't working. He closed his eyes and desperately fought back the tears that were threatening to escape from his red and black eyes. He sighed again, opened his eyes and continued.

"Dis is my home. De first real home I ever had in my life. I guess dat's why I came here after I left Antarctica. I had nowhere else to go, but I knew Papa an' Tante Mattie an' de rest of de Guild would take care of me. I wasn' wrong, an' I've been happy here de past few months. Mais, I'm not a t'ief anymore. I'm not sure I really fit in here anymore, even t'ough de Guild is my fam'ly." Remy faltered, swallowing a few times, and blinking hard. The more he said, the harder it got to control his emotions.

"It's goin' take me awhile to fully forgive de X-Men an' trust dem again. An' I don' know right now if I'll ever fully forgive or trust Rogue again. Professor Xavier's dream may not be my dream, but it's a dream worth fightin' for all de same, an' I t'ink I'd be of more use with de X-Men, fightin' for dat dream, instead of here fightin' de Assassins." He paused, and looked at his father, the first person who had ever loved him unconditionally.

"I'm sorry, Papa." He said softly, the tears that had been threatening finally spilling from his eyes and running down his cheeks.

Jean-Luc made no effort to hide his own tears. He opened his blue eyes and looked at his son, nodding slightly. "Je sais, mon fils." He replied, his voice barely above a whisper. He got up and hugged Remy; any words said by either of them were inaudible, even to Wolverine's sensitive ears.

Tante Mattie wished Remy well next. "Take care, child. May de dream you and de X-Men fight for not be in vain. An' remember what you said, dis is your home. We'll always be here for you if you need us." She said, taking her turn to hug him.

"Merci, Tante." Remy replied as he turned to Emil and Genard, who still had not said a word, even to each other. Hugging each other in front of the others was not what the three young men wanted to do, so they just stood there instead.

"Would it be any use for us to tell you to b'have yourself, kiddo?" Genard asked gruffly, trying to keep from crying. Emil was incapable of speaking for the moment, and he was also having a hard time looking at Remy.

Remy looked thoughtful and forced a laugh. "Probably not."

"T'ought so." Genard smiled. "Keep in touch, will ya?"

Remy nodded. "Sure t'ing," he said, going over and standing directly in front of Emil, who still couldn't look at his friend. He put a hand on Emil's shoulder and was almost surprised to find that Emil was trembling. "Come outside wit' me for a second, okay?" Remy asked quietly. Emil nodded and followed him out into the back yard.

"Until a few months ago, I didn' realize how lucky Henri was to have you as a friend," Remy began. "Now I know."

"Remy, don'." Emil pleaded, looking at his friend for the first time, tears flowing down his cheeks. "Henri was my best friend in de whole world, even more den Genard. Losin' him almost killed me. I don' want you to leave, none of us do, it's been great havin' you home 'gain. But at least…at least you're not dead."

"Emil, I'm sorry. I know dis is horrible. But I have a job to do…an' I'll be back. Even de X-Men get vacations from time to time."

"I know. You have to go. I'll risk bein' an echo an' say, keep in touch. You better go say good-bye to Mercy…she'd never forgive you if you left without talkin' to her."

Remy turned and headed back into the house. At the door he stopped and looked at Emil, who wasn't joining him. "Take care, mon ami." 

Emil managed a small smile through his tears. "You too, Rem."

***

Remy went up to Mercy's room and said his good-byes. Talking to Mercy wasn't any easier than talking to the others, but he did it somehow. She understood as well that he was needed on the X-Men team, and that he wouldn't be gone for quite so long this time. He had become better friends with most of the Guild during the past few months and coming back frequently was high on his agenda. 

Mercy came downstairs with Remy, helping him carry the few things he was taking with him back to New York. Emil had come inside and was sitting between Genard and Tante Mattie on the couch. Storm and Wolverine were waiting for him.

"We gotta go, kid." Wolverine commented. "Cyke just called…the FOH is raising a stink 'bout somethin'. They need our help."

Jean-Luc followed them to the door. Wolverine and Storm went outside, leaving Remy and Jean-Luc together in the foyer. 

"Well…I guess dis is it." Jean-Luc stammered, fighting tears again.

"Merci, Papa, for everyt'ing. I don' know what I would have done without you an' de others dese past few months. I'll call you when we get dere…Papa?" Remy said in reply.

"Oui, Remy?"

"I love you." 

"Oh Remy…" Jean-Luc sighed. "I love you too. Now go, b'fore I try to make you stay."

As Gambit, Storm and Wolverine drove away in the car Storm had rented at the airport, Jean-Luc returned to the living room. No one said a word, they all just sat around in silence, lost in their own private thoughts. They were startled out of their reveries by the sound of the phone ringing.

Jean-Luc answered the phone, listened for a few seconds and then hung up. The others looked at him expectantly. 

"Dat was Theoren. De Assassins have kidnapped Zoe. He an' Claude need our help getting her back. Dey're waitin' for us in Jackson Square."

"Well, what're we waitin' for? Let's go." Mercy said. The others followed her out of the mansion.

Things were getting back to normal with a vengeance for the thieves, whether they were ready for it or not.


End file.
